NFL playoffs: From the Bills to the Bengals and Eagles to the Cowboys, meet the teams battling it out to reach Super Bowl LVII in Arizona | NFL News

The NFL playoffs are in full swing, with eight teams remaining as we reach the divisional round this weekend, live on Sky Sports NFL; here’s your guide to each of the teams still in the hunt looking to reach Super Bowl LVII in Arizona on February 12…

AFC

1) Kansas City Chiefs

AFC West division champions – 14-3 regular-season record

Head coach: Andy Reid is into his 10th season with the Chiefs, and this team has known only success since he’s been there, missing out on the playoffs just once in 2014 – albeit still securing a winning record at 9-7, the only time his team failed to reach 10 wins.

Key man: The uber-talented Patrick Mahomes, of course. The 27-year-old is favourite to win a second league MVP title this season in just his fifth year as a starter in the NFL.

Mahomes set a new record for the most offensive yds (5,614) in NFL history this season – breaking down as 5,250 passing yards, 358 rush yards and six receiving. He also leads the league in passing TDs, with 41, six greater than the 35 of both Josh Allen (Bills) and Joe Burrow (Bengals). And he’s done it all despite the team trading away his best receiver, Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins, in the offseason.

Form guide: It couldn’t be much better. The Chiefs won the AFC West division title for a seventh-straight season – not only the longest active streak in the league, but tied for the second-longest in NFL history behind only the 11-straight years the Patriots won the AFC East from 2009 to 2019.

They have a first-round bye in the playoffs due to clinching the No 1 seed in the AFC with a 14-3 record. Though, two of those defeats came against the Bills and the Bengals, both their biggest challengers in the conference as they look to reach the Super Bowl again.

Playoff history: Kansas City lifted the Vince Lombardi Trophy on their first visit to the Super Bowl in 50 years when they beat the 49ers to cap the 2018 season, with Mahomes named MVP after engineering a comeback from 20-10 down midway through the fourth quarter.

They have made it all the way to the Super Bowl on four occasions, losing to the Packers in the very first Super Bowl, before triumphing over the Vikings three years later. After their Super Bowl LIV win over the Niners, the Chiefs missed the chance to go back-to-back as they were beaten by Tom Brady and the Bucs in the big game. Last year it was the Bengals who proved their undoing in the AFC Championship game.

Playoff prospects: The Chiefs live for that conference title game. They’ve hosted it in each of the last four seasons. That will surely be the case again this year, except if they were to meet Buffalo. That potential matchup will instead take place at a neutral site in Atlanta due to the Bills missing out on the chance to themselves claim the No 1 seed (and home advantage) as their Week 17 game against the Bengals was cancelled following the cardiac arrest suffered by Damar Hamlin on the field.

2) Buffalo Bills

AFC East division champions – 13-3 regular-season record

Super Wild Card Weekend result: 34-31 winners vs Dolphins (7)

Head coach: Sean McDermott has shown incredible leadership this year, not only in leading the team to another impressive record this season, but particularly in rallying his team over the past fortnight following the traumatic events of that Monday night game against the Bengals in which Hamlin was hospitalised. Thankfully, the team were able to celebrate Hamlin’s remarkable recovery last weekend with an emotional win over the Patriots in which Nyheim Hines incredibly returned TWO kick-off return touchdowns dedicated to his team-mate. They since held off a

They since held off a spirited Miami side in their playoff opener, ensuring a rematch with the Bengals in the divisional round this Sunday.

Key man: Speaking of the leadership, Josh Allen also continues to show remarkable poise on and off the field. On it, he finished the regular season with 4,283 passing yards and 35 touchdowns – second only to Mahomes – as well as a massive 762 yards and seven scores on the ground.

Form guide: Shock back-to-back losses at the Jets and at home to the Vikings (in an overtime thriller) – just a couple of weeks removed from beating the Chiefs in Kansas City – dropped the team to 6-3 on the season. It not only sparked concerns that Buffalo had again blown their chance to boss the AFC, but that they might not even claim the division title in a competitive AFC East.

But they’ve not lost since, winning seven in a row, though that cancelled Week 17 game against Cincinnati ultimately cost them the No 1 seed to guarantee that the road to the Super Bowl ran through Buffalo. Should they make it to the AFC Championship game, they will at least swap Arrowhead for Atlanta, however.

Playoff history: Not great. The Bills are one of only two teams, along with the Vikings, to have lost four Super Bowls and not win one… all of theirs coming in succession too in four heart-breaking near-misses in the early 1990s. Since then, just making the postseason has proven a problem – Buffalo suffered a drought of 18 years that was finally ended in 2017.

Since drafting Allen with the seventh overall pick in the 2018 Draft, he has propelled this team into another stratosphere, but they are still yet to get over the hump and reach a fifth Super Bowl – let alone win a first. Mahomes and the Chiefs have been their undoing the past two years, firstly in the AFC Championship game before they then lost 42-36 in an overtime epic in last year’s divisional round – a game in which the Bills had led by three with just 13 seconds left!

Playoff prospects: Many people have the Bills pegged as this year’s ‘team of destiny’. It’s impossible to watch the Hamlin tributes – and Hines kick-off TDs – that has stirred up such a sensational atmosphere in Buffalo and not also get swept up in it. Could this finally the year the Bills go all the way?

3) Cincinnati Bengals

AFC North division champions – 12-4 regular-season record

Super Wild Card Weekend result: 24-17 winners vs Ravens (6)

Head coach: Despite the astronomical success the Bengals have enjoyed over the past two years, Zac Taylor hasn’t always convinced the masses, with many believing last year’s run to the Super Bowl and their 12-4 record this season is owed more to the brilliance of Joe Burrow at quarterback. Into only his fourth year as a head coach, Taylor certainly has time on his side to prove the doubters wrong – with Burrow firmly in his corner, he’s going nowhere anytime soon.

Key man: A third team in the conference and a third quarterback to highlight. You need a three-sided coin to split these QBs, with Joe Burrow joining Allen tied for second with 35 passing TDs this season (a new career high), trailing only Mahomes’ 41.

Burrow’s first career meeting with Allen was ultimately cancelled due to Hamlin’s cardiac arrest on the field early in the game, but he is the only QB in the league to face Mahomes multiple times and be undefeated, winning all three of their previous matchups – including when knocking the Chiefs out in last year’s AFC Championship game.

Form guide: The Bengals were second only to the 49ers’ 10-staight wins in terms of form heading into the playoffs, themselves riding an eight-game win streak into Super Wild Card Weekend, where they then dispatched the Ravens for a second week in a row after having also beaten their great AFC North rivals on the final weekend of the regular season.

Playoff history: The Bengals are one of the 12 teams in the NFL to have never won the Super Bowl, while their three defeats without having tasted victory in the big game is second only to the Bills and Vikings’ unwanted record of four.

After falling foul of the 49ers twice in the 1980s, Cincinnati sensationally made it all the way back to the Super Bowl last season, following a barren run of 31 years without so much as even a playoff win, but Burrow an co ultimately came unstuck against the Rams, despite having held a 10-point lead at one point midway through the third quarter.

Playoff prospects: The Bengals figure to be a contender yet again this year, though the road to the Super Bowl likely runs through both Buffalo AND Kansas City, the first of those trips coming this Sunday as they travel to take on the Bills in a rematch of that cancelled Week 17 contest. It should be emotional.

4) Jacksonville Jaguars

AFC South division champions – 9-8 regular-season record

Super Wild Card Weekend result: 31-30 winners vs Chargers (5)

Head coach: Doug Pederson has engineered quite the turnaround in Jacksonville after the desperate debacle that was Urban Meyer’s one-year tenure with the team. The former Eagles head coach won a Super Bowl with Philadelphia in 2017 before things began to turn sour, but he has demonstrated his stellar credentials by delivering just a fourth division title to the Jaguars in the franchise’s 28-year history – and following on from a league-worst 3-14 record last season.

Key man: Yet another team, yet another quarterback to highlight. But it’s simply impossible to address the Jaguars’ success without mentioning the giant leap taken by their second-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

The No 1 overall pick in the 2021 Draft, Lawrence struggled mightily in his rookie season, throwing for just 3,641 yards, 12 touchdowns and 17 interceptions (tied for the league lead). Fast-forward 12 months and those regular season stats read, 4,113 passing yards and 25 passing TDs.

Form guide: The Jaguars now own a six-game win streak following their stunning wild card win over the Chargers. Lawrence himself began noticing the tide shift for both the team and in his personal play following the loss to the Denver Broncos in London back in late October that dropped them to 2-6 on the season. They’ve lost only twice since, an understandable defeat in Kansas City and a blowout in Detroit in which their star QB was on and off the field to injury.

Playoff history: The Jaguars are one of the youngest franchises in the NFL, having only formed in 1995. They have never been to a Super Bowl, though they have come close on more than one occasion.

Jacksonville enjoyed remarkable success early on as a franchise, reaching the AFC Championship game in just their second season, and then repeating the trick three years later. However, a fallow period would follow, with the Jags making the playoffs just twice (winning one game) over the next 17 years, before they again reached the AFC title game in 2017 only to be edged out by Brady and the Patriots.

Playoff prospects: It’s unlikely the Jaguars will match those previous runs to the conference championship final this season. Just their stunning Super Wild Card Weekend win over the Chargers alone will very much be seen as progress for this franchise.

NFC

1) Philadelphia Eagles

NFC East division champions – 14-3 regular-season record

Head coach: Nick Sirianni is one of the favourites to win NFL coach of the year honours, having led the Eagles to the No 1 seed in the NFC in just his second season in charge in Philadelphia.

Key man: He has been out for much of the past few weeks to injury, but it’s still quarterback – and league MVP candidate – Jalen Hurts.

Hurts returned to the fold last weekend for a rather rusty outing against the Giants which the Eagles won 22-16 to ensure they held off the 49ers’ late challenge for top spot in the conference. The first-round bye (as well as home-field advantage through the playoffs) that it affords Philadelphia will be crucial for Hurts in further aiding his recovery from a shoulder injury which he picked up in Week 15 against the Bears.

Bar that setback, it has been a career year for Hurts, who finished the regular season with 3,701 passing yards and 22 touchdowns to only six interceptions, adding a further 760 yards and a staggering 13 scores on the ground. The dual-threat QB is the first player in the Super Bowl era to rank in the top five in both passer rating (101.5) and rushing TDs in the same season.

Form guide: The Eagles held the NFL’s best record for the majority of the season, having served as the league’s last remaining undefeated team until they were taken down by the Commanders in Week 10. A further five-game winning run followed before back-to-back defeats in their star quarterback’s absence – to the Cowboys and the Saints – that threatened to undo all of their hard work prior. No fear, as Hurts returned to put things right with a season-ending win over the Giants last Sunday.

Playoff history: The Eagles, up until their lone Super Bowl win in 2017, had been a long-suffering franchise and fan base. They made the Super Bowl only once prior, in 1980 – losing to the Raiders – and otherwise endured 29 postseason-less years from 1960 until the turn of the millennium.

Since then, the franchise’s fortunes have changed, with the Eagles consistently competing with the upper class of the NFL, reaching four-straight NFC Championship games under now-Chiefs coach Andy Reid in the early 2000s, the last of which secured them a second trip to the Super Bowl where they were beaten by Brady and the Patriots. Thirteen years later, they’d eventually get their revenge against the very same team and QB, triumphing 41-33 in a truly epic encounter at Super Bowl LII.

Playoff prospects: The Eagles are the No 1 seed for a reason, so they could very well find themselves representing the NFC in Super Bowl LVII in Arizona come February 12. That said, is it all a little early in this new Sirianni-led era? They will be keen to avoid a meeting with the wily old veterans over in San Francisco come the conference championship final.

2) San Francisco 49ers

NFC West division champions – 13-4 regular-season record

Super Wild Card Weekend result: 41-23 winners vs Seahawks (7)

Head coach: Kyle Shanahan is considered one of the best head coaches in the league, and perhaps the game’s greatest offensive mind. The 2022 season has been a real testament to that, with San Francisco down to their third-string quarterback – rookie seventh-round draft pick Brock Purdy – and yet they posted 13 wins during the regular season, riding 10 in a row into the playoffs where that swiftly became 11 with a 41-23 beating of the Seahawks.

Key man: One of the reasons the 49ers have been so good this year is their depth as a squad, possessing talent at every position – thus making the job of picking out just one star player extremely difficult. There’s Christian McCaffrey at running back – a sensational mid-season addition via trade from Carolina – as well as Deebo Samuel at receiver and star tight end George Kittle, in addition to the aforementioned, unflappable Purdy at QB.

On defense, Fred Warner at linebacker, Talanoa Hufanga at safety and Charvarius Ward at cornerback are all worthy of mention, but it’s pass rusher extraordinaire Nick Bosa who ultimately gets the nod. Bosa is a one-man quarterback wrecking crew on the defensive line and his league-leading 18.5 sacks this season – on the NFL’s No 1 ranked defense – has likely secured him defensive player of the year honours.

Form guide: The Niners are the hottest team in the NFL right now, winning their last 11 straight. Their last loss came all the way back in Week Seven, a 44-23 drubbing by the Chiefs.

Since, the defense has stepped up massively, allowing over 20 points just twice in that 11-game streak. Meanwhile, over the same stretch the San Francisco offense has surpassed 30 points on eight separate occasions.

Playoff history: The 49ers are one of the most successful franchises in Super Bowl history, with their five wins level with the Cowboys and bettered only by the Steelers and Patriots (both six) – and Brady’s seven.

That said, San Francisco last tasted success nearly three decades ago in the 1994 season, and have lost their two trips since – in 2012 and to Mahomes’ Chiefs in 2019. They very nearly made it back to the big dance again last year, only to lose out to the Rams in a super-tight NFC Championship battle.

Playoff prospects: One of the favourites. The Eagles may well hold the No 1 seed in the conference, but many view San Francisco as the biggest threat out of the NFC.

5) Dallas Cowboys

Wild card entry – 12-5 regular-season record

Super Wild Card Weekend result: 31-14 winners @ Buccaneers (4)

Head coach: Mike McCarthy was another many believed was under pressure, despite making the playoffs, with the figure of former Saints Super Bowl-winning head coach Sean Payton – long-admired by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones – looming over his shoulder should things have gone awry in the wild card round. But, Dallas’ convincing win over Brady’s Buccaneers on Monday nigh should have instead ensured he’s back next season regardless of how the rest of the postseason goes.

Key man: Star linebacker Micah Parsons. The second-year star had 13.5 sacks in the regular season, albeit just 1.5 of those came in the final six weeks, likely ending his bid to be named defensive player of the year.

That said, Parsons’ talent is not to be denied and he will be key if Dallas are to progress all the way to Super Bowl LVII in Arizona on February 12.

Form guide: The Cowboys’ offense (27.5 points per game) and defense (20.1 PPG) both ranked in the top five in the NFL for scoring during the regular season.

That said, after putting up 40 points on the Vikings in Minnesota in Week 11 and hammering the Colts 54-19 a fortnight later, some sloppy performances began to creep in for the Cowboys. The three-win Texans nearly beat them in Dallas, and they went down to defeats to the Jaguars and, most notably, a Commanders team with nothing to play for on the final week of the season. The convincing wild card win on the road in Tampa, however, appears to have corrected things.

Playoff history: The Cowboys are one of the most successful franchises in NFL history, earning them the moniker of ‘America’s Team’. But it has been a long time since Dallas were truly America’s team in terms of being the number one team in the country.

The Cowboys’ then-record fifth and final Super Bowl title came in 1995 with a win over the Steelers in, coincidentally, Arizona. But in the intervening 27 years, Dallas haven’t so much as even made the NFC Championship game – going 5-11 over that span.

Playoff prospects: In terms of pure roster talent, the Cowboys should certainly be in the Super Bowl mix, with their Super Wild Card win over the Buccaneers serving notice of their championship credentials.

6) New York Giants

Wild card entry – 9-7-1 regular-season record

Super Wild Card Weekend result: 31-24 winners @ Vikings (3)

Head coach: Rookie head coach Brian Daboll is a serious contender for coach of the year honours after overseeing a remarkable turnaround of fortunes in New York. The Giants had only four wins to their name in 2021, with the former Bills offensive coordinator doubling that in his first year in charge to book a first playoff appearance for the franchise in six years, while they then secured a first postseason win in 11 against the Vikings on Super Wild Card Weekend.

Key man: Saquon Barkley has been at the heart of the Giants’ success this season, with the star (but injury-prone) running back returning to his best from in 2022, rushing for a career-high 1,312 yards to go with 10 TDs in the regular season. Back fit and firing, Barkley will be key to how far the Giants progress in the postseason.

Form guide: The Giants came flying out of the blocks to start the season, romping to a 6-1 record. In the 10 games that followed, however, they won only three of them – two of which were against the Texans and Colts, who combined for a grand total of seven victories across a combined 34 contests in 2022.

That said, they were hugely impressive in knocking out the 13-win Vikings on the road in Minnesota at the weekend, so this side should certainly not be taken lightly by the rest of the playoff field.

Playoff history: The Giants are one of the oldest and most successful franchises in NFL history. Formed in 1925, they won four championships prior to the Super Bowl era, while they have since matched that record, raising aloft the Vince Lombardi Trophy four times.

They have tasted success in each of the past four decades – 1986, 1990, 2007 and 2011 – with their most notable win surely the third of the bunch, when beating the previously undefeated Patriots 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII.

Playoff prospects: The Giants have already over-achieved this season, with not a huge amount having been expected of this squad. That said, they are well capable of causing an upset, as demonstrated on Super Wild Card Weekend against the Vikings, so NFC East rivals Philadelphia will have to be at their best to beat Daboll’s men in the divisional round.

Sky Sports NFL is your dedicated channel for NFL coverage through the season – featuring a host of NFL Network programming. Don’t forget to follow us on skysports.com/nfl, our Twitter account @SkySportsNFL & Sky Sports – on the go!